Media News - Monday, August 11, 2008

Conflict opens front in the media

Russian television is flush with footage of misery left by the Georgian assault in the separatist district of South Ossetia, but few, if any, reports mention Russia's bombing of Georgia. William Dunbar, a correspondent in Georgia for English-language state channel Russia Today, mentioned the bombing in a report Saturday and he has not gone on air for the station since. “I had a series of live, video satellite links scheduled for later that day, and they were cancelled by Russia Today," he said by telephone from Tbilisi on Sunday. “The real news, the real facts of the matter, didn't conform to what they were trying to report, and therefore, they wouldn't let me report it. I felt that I had no choice but to resign.” A Russia Today spokeswoman said Dunbar resigned when a producer called to arrange a broadcast. She provided a copy of a Georgian media report saying Dunbar protested Russia's “aggression” against Georgia and said the channel assumed that was why he quit. In an online story dated Saturday, the channel mentions Georgian statements about the Russian bombing raids but says its correspondents in Tbilisi "could not substantiate the reports.” In a further twist of the information flow, Georgia on Saturday terminated broadcasts of Russian news channels Channel One, Rossia and NTV and blocked web sites in the .ru domain. Meanwhile, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said hackers had crashed many websites, including those of state agencies. His own site was not loading Sunday, with an Internet browser saying the server stopped responding. Before it went offline, the site was tampered with to show Saakashvili with the kind of moustache sported by Hitler, Interfax reported Saturday. Russian officials and state media, meanwhile, criticized Western media, saying they had taken Georgia's side and were misinforming their audiences. Related: Russian journalists beaten up in Georgia, Russia pointing to media bias, Cyber attacks knock out Georgia's Internet presence, Cyber War: Russia v. Georgia. Also, what they’re saying around the blogosphere. (Moscow Times)

Bookmark this : | Listen to this article | Sphere: Related Content

FBI says it obtained reporters’ phone records

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Friday that it had improperly obtained the phone records of reporters for The New York Times and The Washington Post in the newspapers’ Indonesia bureaus in 2004. Robert S. Mueller III, director of the FBI, disclosed the episode in a phone call to Bill Keller, the executive editor of The Times, and apologised for it. He also spoke with Leonard Downie Jr, the executive editor of The Washington Post, to apologise. FBI officials said the incident came to light as part of the continuing review by the Justice Department inspector general’s office into the bureau’s improper collection of telephone records through “emergency” records demands issued to phone providers. The records were apparently sought as part of a terrorism investigation, but the FBI did not explain what was being investigated or why the reporters’ phone records were considered relevant. The Justice Department places a high bar on the collection of reporters’ records in investigations because of First Amendment concerns, and obtaining such records requires the approval of the deputy attorney general. That requirement was not followed when the FBI obtained the records of two reporters for The Times in Indonesia, Raymond Bonner and Jane Perlez, as well as two reporters there for The Post, Ellen Nakashima and Natasha Tampubolon, officials said. An initial report by the inspector general last year found that the FBI had violated its own policies in tens of thousands of cases by obtaining phone records in terrorism investigations through what are known as national security letters, without first getting needed approval or meeting other standards.
(NYT)

Bookmark this : | Listen to this article | Sphere: Related Content

IFJ say Chinese are snooping on journalists at work in Beijing

The International Federation of Journalists has called on the Chinese authorities to stop snooping on journalists who are covering assignments in Beijing. The IFJ says that reported incidents of Chinese security staff in plainclothes taking photos of journalists at work is a form of intimidation that contravenes press freedom. The IFJ notes a number of reports from eye-witnesses who have seen shadowed by people in plainclothes. The group also says a foreign journalist told the IFJ that two strangers with no press accreditations took photos of him and his notes on 7 August when he was interviewing an athlete from France at Beijing airport. When he challenged them, the strangers refused to talk. The journalist says in the exchange his press accreditation and nationality were checked and photographs were taken on the notes he had made. A similar report was made when a number of foreign and Hong Kong journalists were interviewing a discontented land owner at Qianmen, Beijing, the IFJ says. “This is unacceptable interference in the work of journalists,” says Aidan White, IFJ general secretary. “Once again we call on the Chinese authorities to make good on their promise that journalists can work without intimidation.” (IFJ)

Bookmark this : | Listen to this article | Sphere: Related Content

Media fight looms on privacy laws

Australia's top news organisations are readying for a showdown if the Australian Law Reform Commission recommends tough new privacy laws today, as expected. The commission's report could have significant ramifications for news reporting, especially on the lives of well-known people. Justin Quill, a media and litigation lawyer and director of law firm Kelly Hazell, said a privacy law would most affect magazines that specialised in reporting celebrity news, followed by shows such as A Current Affair and Today Tonight and then other news services. Gilbert + Tobin partner Peter Leonard expected the immediate effect of a privacy law would be "more cautious reporting around the personal life of celebrities". For example, he said much of the reporting of former AFL footballer Wayne Carey might be disallowed if a privacy law existed. In its newsletter last week, Gilbert + Tobin said the ALRC's report was expected to recommend "the most significant changes to the Privacy Act in the 20 years of its existence". The Right to Know Coalition, which represents Australia's top media groups, including News Limited, publisher of The Australian, on freedom of speech issues - is against a privacy law. The coalition argued a statutory right to privacy would restrain the media's ability to keep the public informed. Fairfax Media general counsel Gail Hambly said the evidence in Europe, where a privacy law existed, was that it was only used by high-profile people.
(The Australian)

Bookmark this : | Listen to this article | Sphere: Related Content

Stockholm hospital in Facebook photo scandal

A staff member at Karolinska University Hospital is to undergo an internal investigation for taking photographs of an operation and making the pictures available for viewing on social networking site Facebook, Expressen reports. Members of the Facebook group were able to comment freely on the complex surgical procedures depicted in the images. Talking photos in operating theatres is strictly forbidden at the hospital unless it is for educational purposes. The hospital is to begin investigating the incident on Monday. All surgical staff are to be called to a meeting in which they will be reminded of the hospital's code of ethics. The hospital has also said it is considering whether to report the staff member to the police. It will also consider the possibility of firing the employee. The person in question has removed the images from Facebook since the scandal came to light.

(The Local )

Bookmark this : | Listen to this article | Sphere: Related Content

Guardian bought Madeleine McCann link by mistake, says marketing director

The Guardian has admitted it mistakenly bought the keywords Madeleine McCann from Google. By wrongly purchasing the keywords, a link to the paper's coverage of Madeleine's disappearance appeared in a column of sponsored results when a search for her name was made on Google. The newspaper has now taken down the link and has reviewed the list of keywords it owns, Marc Sands, marketing director for the Guardian, told Journalism.co.uk. The paper's purchase of the words Madeleine McCann was criticised by Justin Williams, assistant editor at Telegraph Media Group, on his personal blog, who said the practice showed the paper was 'desperate' to hold onto its position as the UK's most popular newspaper website according to the most recent Audit Bureau of Circulations Electronic (ABCe) traffic figures. A search for the terms shows the Mirror currently owns the keywords McCanns cleared, while a Google search for other keywords, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, show the the Sun and Times have also purchased phrases from Google. The practice had been criticised in the blog post, he said, because of the Guardian's previous stance on the coverage of the McCann story. (Journalism.co.uk)

Bookmark this : | Listen to this article | Sphere: Related Content

• Home |
• Seminars  |
• Events |
• Media Landscape |
• Newsroom|
• Media News|
• Resources

Terms of service and Privacy policy.

Copyright © 1992-2007 European Journalism Centre. All rights reserved.

Valid XHTML and CSS.

European Journalism Centre

Sonneville-lunet 10
6221KT Maastricht
The Netherlands

Tel. : +31 43 325 40 30
Fax : +32 2 400 42 20

E-mail: info[at]ejc.net